Chapter 168
AN ACT RELATIVE TO RECALL ELECTIONS IN THE TOWN OF BERNARDSTON.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same,
as follows:

SECTION 1.
A person who holds an elected office in the town of
Bernardston,
with more than 6 months remaining in the term of that office on the date of
the
filing of a recall affidavit, referred to in section 2, may be recalled from
office by the registered voters of the town of Bernardston, in the manner
herein provided.

SECTION 2.
Fifty or more voters of the town of Bernardston may file
with the
clerk of the town an affidavit containing the name of the officer whose
recall
is being sought, along with a statement of the grounds for removal. The clerk
of
the town shall provide to the voters, petition blanks demanding the recall,
printed forms of which shall be kept available by the clerk. The petition
blanks may be completed either by writing or typewriting, shall be addressed to
the board of selectmen, shall contain the names of the voters who filed the
affidavit and the grounds for recall as stated in the affidavit; they shall
demand the election of a successor to that office; and shall be dated and
signed
by the clerk. A copy of the petition shall be kept on file in the
office of
the clerk in a record book maintained for the purpose.

The recall petition shall be returned and filed in the office of the clerk
within 14 days following the date upon which the clerk issued such
petitions; they shall contain the signatures of at least 10 per cent of the
total number of voters duly recorded on the registration list of the clerk as
of
the most recent preceding town election.

The clerk shall, within 48 hours following the filing, submit the
petition to the registrars of voters who shall, within 5 days, certify thereon
the number of signatures which in fact are names of voters of the town.

SECTION 3.
If the recall petition shall be certified by the
registrars of
voters to contain the sufficient number of voters, the clerk of the town
shall forthwith submit the petitions to the board of selectmen.
Upon its receipt of the certified petitions, the board of selectmen shall,
within 48 hours, give written notice of the recall petitions and the
certification thereon to the person whose recall is being sought.

If the officer sought to be recalled does not resign his office within
5 days
following the delivery of the notice, the board of selectmen shall order an
election to be held not less than 65 nor more than 90 days after the date
of
certification of the sufficiency of the petition by the registrars of
voters; but if another town election is to occur within 100
days after the date of the certification, the board of selectmen may,
at their discretion, postpone the holding of the recall election until the
date
of such other town election.

If a vacancy occurs in the office after a recall election has been ordered,
the
election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this section;
but only the ballots for the new candidates shall be counted.

SECTION 4.
An officer whose recall is being sought shall not be a
candidate to
succeed himself at the recall election. The nomination of candidates, the
publication of the warrant for the recall election and the conduct of the
election shall be in accordance with the law relative to elections,
unless otherwise provided in this act.

SECTION 5.
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his
office
until the recall election is held. If not recalled in the election, the
incumbent shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term,
subject to recall as before, except as provided therein.

If the incumbent officer is recalled he shall be deemed removed upon the
qualification of a successor who shall hold office for the remainder of the
unexpired term; but if the successor fails to qualify
within
5 days after receiving notification of election, the incumbent nevertheless
shall thereupon be removed and the office shall remain vacant for the
remainder
of the unexpired term.

SECTION 6.
All ballots used at a recall election shall contain the
following
propositions in the order indicated:

FOR THE RECALL OF (NAME OF OFFICER)

AGAINST THE RECALL OF (NAME OF OFFICER)

Adjacent to each proposition, there shall be a place to mark a vote.

After the propositions shall appear the word "CANDIDATES" followed by the
name
of
all candidates arranged alphabetically by surname. Adjacent to the name of each
candidate shall be a place to mark a vote.

If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall are in the
affirmative, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be
deemed
elected.

If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall are in the
negative,
the ballots for the candidates need not be counted unless the incumbent officer
has previously resigned from office pursuant to section 3.

SECTION 7.
A recall petition shall not be filed against an officer
within 6 months of the assumption of his office. In the case of an officer
who has been
subjected to a recall election and was not recalled thereby, a subsequent
recall
petition shall not be filed against the officer until at least 6 months after
the
date of the election at which the initial recall was voted upon.

SECTION 8.
A person who has been recalled from an office or who has
resigned
from an office while recall proceedings were pending, shall not be appointed to
any
town office within 12 months after the recall or resignation.